United Nations Population Division says 11.2 billion people by 2100 - Why Africa and India Population exploding as Insect Meat is coming

“The concentration of population growth in the poorest countries will make it harder for those governments to eradicate poverty and inequality, combat hunger and malnutrition, expand education enrollment and health systems, improve the provision of basic services and implement other elements of a sustainable development agenda to ensure that no one is left behind”

Excerpt from the United Nations Population Division paper presented at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle on Monday August 10^th 2015

As many of my reader must be well aware, we're heading for a population crisis.

Estimates from the United Nations Population Division presented on Monday August 10th 2015 at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle projects a global population of 11.2 billion by 2100 as stated in the article “World population to top 11 billion by end of century” published August 10, 2015 by Amanda Schupak, CBS News.

Currently the world's population is estimated to be around 7 billion. According to the United States Census Bureau, they estimate that it had reached and passed this milestone on Monday March 12^th, 2012. A separate estimate by the United Nations Population Fund points to an earlier date of Monday October 31^st, 2011.

We humans seem to be at our most productive on a Monday, apparently!

Their estimates are based on computer simulations using historical data, they came up with this figure, which is the midpoint between 9.5 and 13.3 billion people.

 By 2050 we'd have already reached 9.7 billion people, all growth driven by the  expansion of Africa and India, both of which is poised on the cusp of greatness.

However this isn’t good news, as that means they’ll be more mouths to feed!

United Nations Population Division says 11.2 billion people by 2100 - Why Africa and India leading the Population Explosion

This sounds about right, as the UNFAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) had predicted on Monday May 13^th 2013 in a 200 page report as explained in my blog article entitled “United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says Insects is the Meat for the next 20 years - Soylent Green may be avoided via Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”.  

In that report, the UNFAO basically said that we'll need to switch to insects as meat or develope 3D Printing technologies to make meat by 2030. In that article, they'd also projected a human population of 9 billion by 2030.

So this latest declaration seem just right, especially about Africa and India as noted in the article “World’s Population To Top 11 Billion by 2100”, published 8/10/15 By Stav Ziv,  Newsweek.

Africa is the last continental space of land to be fully conquered by human civilization, with as much as 50% of Africa being uninhabited by humans and a fraction of its resources being fully exploited.

Their population is projected to balloon to 5.6 billion by 2100, up from the current 1.2 billion as noted in the article “World Population Will Exceed 11 Billion By 2100: Are We Ready?”, published August 12, 2015 By Jim Algar, Tech Times.

India is in growth spurt and will definitely surpass China, making them very attractive to Telecom Providers and smartphone handset makers as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Xiaomi in India after success in China - Xiaomi Looks to the West as the World is theirs for the Taking”.

But the question I have to ask is; which country currently consumes the most meat?

Who eats the most meat – Surprising statistics on the World’s Meat Eaters

According to Forbes and analyst Statista, the country that eats the most meat currently is, surprisingly, Australia as per the infographic below:

Please note when I say “meat”, I'm referring to meat from Animals such as cows, goats, pigs and sheep. It's good to note that eating these animals is a Western Tradition; the rest of the world mainly consumes insects as the video below suggests.

To break down the figures for my readers, here are the meat consumption figures per capita for 2013:

1.      205 lbs for Australia

2.      200.6 lbs for United States

3.      189.6 lbs for Israel

4.      187 lbs for Argentina

5.      183 lbs for Uruguay

6.      172 lbs for Brazil

No surprise there, except for Australia, being as they’re mostly desert, I’d never figured them to be the top meat eaters in the world!

So what alternatives do we have to growing cows, goats, pigs and sheep that’s more efficient and can meet the coming future demand for protein?

How to feed 11.3 billion people - Dulce Seaweed for meat as future food may come from the Sea

Insects are a more efficient producer of protein and can be processed into more edible, aesthetically pleasing form as a French startup Yinsect, is attempting to do as noted in “French Food Startup Aims To Sell “Insect Meat”Around The World”, published 2015-07-17 by Dominique Nora, WorldCrunch.

Meat can potentially be grown from amino acids using genetically modified bacteria as Silicon Valley Startup Calysta is trying to do in order to satiate future meat demand as explained in “Mystery Meat Is About to Get a Lot More Mysterious”, published July 18 2015 By Anrica Deb, OZY.

So too does making meat from vegetable proteins, such as egg as Hampton Creek and their Egg Replacement recipe that sues a blend of plant proteins to replace Eggs as explained in my blog article entitled “Hampton Creek Foods and their Plant Protein Egg Replacement – Global Egg Industry to get the Kibosh by 2017”.  

Finally there is algae grow in large underwater Farms such as Dulce Seaweed Algae, which researchers at Oregon State University have discovered is not only nutritious but also taste like bacon when fried as noted in my blog article entitled “Oregon State University discover Dulce Seaweed Algae taste like Bacon - How Dulce can solve UNFAO's Meat Crisis in 2025 and also make Beer”. 

So in a quick snap, there are many sources of meat protein in the future that are being developed by Researchers world! With a population boom looming on the horizon and many of our resources running short, we need to start planning for the future from now.

Why @Google Inc as Alphabet Inc means better Business Structure and Engineering Project Success

Say Goodbye to Google and say hello to a new company: Alphabet!!

The company more famous for its Search Engine, YouTube and Google Android OS is now Alphabet Inc, an Umbrella group which Google is a part of as reported in the article “Google creates new parent company called Alphabet”, published August 10, 2015, by Richard Nieva, CNET News.

Their new website for Alphabet Inc will be https://abc.xyz/ . No folks, this isn’t a joke; click on it and it’ll take you to a page that looks like this.

The news, which was relayed in a nine hundred and eighty (980) word blog post published Monday, August 10^th, 2015 by founder and CEO Larry Paige entitled “G is for Google”, explained in great detail as to why Google has decided to rebrand at this time.

Google will still trade under the stock tickers GOOG and GOOGL, but the company Google Inc. will now be a part of their Alphabet Inc Group of Companies. Alphabet's CEO will be Larry Paige and Sergey Brin becomes Alphabet's President. 

Meanwhile Google's Vice President of products Sundar Pichai has been promoted to CEO of Google, which will be one of the alphabet soup of companies that are a part of the Alphabet's Umbrella Group of companies as listed in the article “The A to Z of Alphabet, the company that now owns Google”, published August 10, 2015 by Ross Miller, the Verge.  

Ok, so now that this has been cleared up, how does this restructuring make Google operate more efficiently?

Google is now Alphabet – Google focuses on Mobile while Alphabet Expands

Under the new structure, Alphabet will be the Umbrella company responsible for all of Google's current and previous ventures as noted in “Google Just Made the Biggest Change in the Company’s History”, published Monday August 10 2015 by TIME.

Google will exist as one of Alphabet's many companies, responsible specifically for:

1.      Google Search

2.      Google Ads

3.      Google Maps

4.      Google Apps

5.      YouTube

6.      Google Android

Meanwhile all of Google's previous ventures including those mentioned at Google I/O 2015 in May 2015 as detailed in my Geezam blog article entitled “Google I/O 2015 – Google Android VR coming + more Android Wear” will now fall under the Alphabet Inc. Group of Companies.

With Google now being managed by Sundar Pichai as CEO of Google as explained in “Meet Alphabet, Google’s New Corporate Boss As Sundar Pichai Takes Over The Search Company”, published Monday August 10 2015 by Drew Olanoff and Frederic Lardinois , Techcrunch, the rest of the world now has to get use to calling them by the new name Alphabet.

So far, Google, er, I mean Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt thinks the name is cool, and so do I:

I think the Alphabet name is Awesome. http://t.co/2bqtPEjoQH

— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) August 10, 2015

This includes the following companies in the actual phonetic Alphabet:

1.      Alphabet

2.      Boston Dynamics

3.      Calico

4.      Capital

5.      Fiber

6.      Google

7.      Hooli

8.      Life Sciences

9.      Nest

10.  Ventures (investment)

11.  X lab

So what are the other companies that Google plans to form in the future? We'll probably have to wait until Google I/O 2016 to find out!

The Logic of Alphabet - Why an Alphabet Structure means better on Project Success

I suspect that as time goes along, Google will fill out the other parts of the alphabet with other companies, thus bringing order to the chaos of acquisitions and new ventures that Google has announced over the years. In so doing, it'll give these separate companies more autonomy and also allow them to focus more on making themselves profitable.

The reason why Google is doing this is so that Google can focus on monetizing Google Search, YouTube and Google Android while Alphabet will continue research, filling out parts of  their alphabet of companies as explained in “Here’s Why Google Is Making the Titanic Shift to ‘Alphabet’”, published Monday August 10 2015 by Alex Fitzpatrick, TIME.

Hopefully, we'll hear more news about Alphabet.

But for now, on paper, I personally like the move, as restructuring and rebranding with an identity that so closely reflects the company’s actual structure instead of its previous confusing structure makes sense to me.

It also protects them from future lawsuits, as with the company now in so many parts, it become a little harder for lawyers to take aim at an easy target that Google was. Now that they’re smaller pieces, people will have to think twice before taking legal action over a product that clearly said it was a “beta”, especially as Google is now expanding into so many areas.

As for the name, that will take some time for people to get used to, as it's really more smexy i.e. functional and fashionable.

Here’s the link:

G is for Google

https://abc.xyz/

Jamaica Number Portability 2 months on - How to Port your number as All Good Customer go to Heaven in 90 Days

It's has now almost been two (2) whole months since the implementation of MNP (Mobile Number Portability) and LNP (Landline Number Portability on Monday June 22^nd 2015 as declared in my blog article entitled “Number Portability now possible in Jamaica - How the NPA creates efficient Number Range Management as Third Telecom Provider Coming”.  

The rules are now in place to facilitate Porting your number from one Network to the other as detailed in the article “What You Need To Know About Jamaican Number Portability”, published Monday July 13, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Best of all, the Telecom Providers are quite pleased with the renewed activity and interest in their Telecom Services that Number Portability seems to be generating as noted in “Number Portability - Almost Two Weeks In, Digicel And Lime Pleased”, published Saturday July 4, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

So too is the Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell when it was announced that some two hundred (200) persons had made use of the facility and had ported their numbers as reported in the article “Technology Minister Pleased with Implementation of Number Portability”, published June 24, 2015 by Latonya Linton, The Jamaica Information Service.

A recent Tweet by Minister of State Julian Robinson on Tuesday August 4^th 2015  suggests that as of Friday July 31^st, 2015:

1.         14,709 numbers have been ported in total

2.         3,255 in June 2015

3.         11,454 in July 2015

Number Portability Stats: As at July 31, 2015, 14,709 numbers have been ported. 3,255 in June and 11,454 in July @TheOURja @MSTEMGovJM @jis

— Julian Jay Robinson (@julianjay) August 4, 2015

With no official word from the Media, these figures are the closes we Jamaicans have to an update as to the success of Number Portability. So what are the criteria for a customer to Port their Number?

Conditions required to Port your Number - All Good Customer go to Heaven in 90 Days

Based on this PSA (Public Service Announcement) by Yvonne Grinam-Nicholson, Director of Consumer and Public affairs at the Office of Utilities Regulation and Chair of the Number Portability Working Group Sub-committee on Public Awareness, Number Portability is quite straightforward.

In fact the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining FAQ on

Number Portability makes it even clearer.  Dual-Band phones e.g. Nokia feature phones with flashlight definitely won't work, as they're dual-band.

You’re better off with a Quad-Band smartphone and even better if the Telecom Providers could unlock their smartphones as argued in my blog article entitled “MNP and LNP delayed to Monday June 22nd 2015 - Technical Problem is Customer Knowledge, Misdmatched Demographics and no Unlocked Quad-Band smartphones”.

You’ll also have to get a new SIM Card from the provider that you're planning to switch your number. That new SIM will have the phone number from your previous Telecom Provider and as such will use their frequencies, hence the need to have a Quad-Band smartphone. 

Interestingly too, the rules of Number Portability do not allow for solicitation, so the Telecom Providers cannot launch campaigns to encourage people to switch, as Telecom Provider LIME has been doing.

If you're postpaid, you'll have to check your Telecom Provider to make sure that you've cleared all your bills in order to be eligible.

Once that's done, then you're in the clear to achieve Number Portability as noted in the article “Simple Facts About Jamaican Local Number Portability”, published Monday July 6, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The time it takes to port your number is as follows:

1.      5 days after making the request for fixed lines

2.      1 day after making the request for Mobile

3.      10 days after making the request for Mobile for a group of 100 or more fixed numbers

4.      2 days after making the request for 50 or more numbers for MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises) 

Good to note here you'll lose all of your Voice and Data Bundles as well as old voicemails; only your number is being ported, not your entire existence while using that number. Also you can't port after having done so ninety (90) days prior, as that's simply not allowed. It's porting, not switch-as-you-like!

Jamaica Number Portability 2 months on - How to Port your Mobile or Landline number

So now that you know the basic parameters to achieving Number portability, how does one port from Digicel to LIME, be it landline or mobile number?

The Procedure is quite simple as described in the article “Frequently Asked Questions About Number Portability”, published Monday June 29, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The Steps are quite simple:

1.      Go to your Telecom Provider that you wish to switch your mobile or landline

2.      Ask about Number Portability

3.      Fill out the Porting Request Form given to you by the Customer Care Agent

4.      Make sure you have GOJ (Government of Jamaica) ID i.e. Passport, Driver's License, Voter's ID and copy of recent Telephone Bill

5.      Make sure GOJ ID and your Telephone bill for yourself or your business name and address match

6.      Text the word PORT to 444­PORT(7678) for mobile numbers which is free of charge

7.      If the number on your Porting Request Form was a landline, you'll receive an email or SMS with a PIN (Personal Identification Number) 

8.      On receiving the email or SMS, call the special porting number, 444­PORT(7678) from the mobile or landline number you are porting

9.      Submit the PIN (Personal Identification Number) to the AVR (Automated Voice Response) system

10.  You will receive an email or SMS alerting you that your request is being processed

Good to note that in the case of Landline porting, the call must be made from your landline number. Also, Technicians contracted by the company you are porting from (LIME) will have to visit your premises to change your Landline instrument within the timeline as specified above.

Telecom Providers have been claiming that people have been switching like crazy, seeking to outdo the other in terms of numbers as reported in the article “200 customers switch networks with number portability”, published Wednesday, June 24, 2015, The Jamaica Observer.

But as my now deceased girlfriend Audia Granston used to say, people will switch and then they'll switch right back. So are you ready to port your number? Leave a comment below if you did and tell me how it went!

Here’s the link:

Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining FAQ on

Number Portability

U.S. wristwatch sales in June 2015 dip due to Apple Watch - Why Apple Watch heralds Armageddon for U.S. and Swiss Watchmakers

“The Apple Watch is going to gain a significant amount of penetration. The first couple of years will be difficult for watches in fashion categories”

Director of NPD Group’s luxury division, Fred Levin, in an interview with Bloomberg discussing the June 2015 declined in U.S. Wristwatch sales

Looks like the Apple Watch is just too perfect for its own good!

According to the latest stats from market research firm NPD Group, U.S. wristwatch sales have dropped by 14% in June 2015 as reported in the article “The Apple Watch effect? Traditional watch sales drop 14 percent in June”, published Aug 8, 2015 by Nick Mediati, MacWorld.

The Sales declines in June 2015 were as follows:

1.      US$50 and US$999 registered the largest declines

2.      24% decline in the number of US$100 to US$149.99 wristwatches sold

3.      US$375 million in sales

4.      11% drop in Sales Profits from U.S. Wristwatches

This is of course when compared to the sales of U.S. wristwatches in June 2014, making this the lowest year-on-year drop in wristwatch history since 2008, or seven (7) years ago as noted in “Apple Watch Killing Watchmakers? US Wristwatch Sales See Biggest Decline In 7 Years”, published August 07 2015 By Mike Brown, International Business Times.

It affects mainly low-end brands such as Timex, Guess, Burberry and Tissot as noted in the article “The Apple Watch has drastically lowered sales of this product”, published AUGUST 7, 2015 by Benjamin Snyder, Fortune.  But as the details roll in, the deep impact may only just be a foreshadowing of Christmas 2015.

Sales of U.S. Watch Export to Switzerland also affected - Apple Watch may be the culprit

When the data is broken down in terms of pricing tiers, it appears some sections of the U.S. wristwatch market took a bigger hit than expected according to the article “Apple Helps Push U.S. Watch Sales to Biggest Drop in Seven Years”, published August 7, 2015  by Thomas Mulier, Bloomberg.

But it gets worse.

U.S. wristwatch exports to Switzerland have been on the rise for months from 2014 to 2015 except in May 2015 based on information supplied by Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. 

Overall for the first six months of 2015, the increase was 4.2%, with the unexpected decline in May coming as a shock, as this exactly two (2) month after deliveries of the Apple Watch began on Friday April 24^th 2015 as reported in my blog article entitled “Apple Watch delays on Pre-Order Day – How to Sell a Wearable using Apple Watch Edition on Celebrities and Third Party Wristbands”.

So is it really the Apple Watch causing the drop in the traditional U.S. wristwatch domestic sales and exports? Possibly…..

Apple Watch vs U.S. wristwatch sales – Why Apple Watch may herald the death of U.S. Watches

It's possible, but highly unlikely, as even I, an Apple fan for years, find it a little hard to accept that the Apple Watch sales are that strong.

After all, other lower-priced brands are also having a rough Summer, possibly because the focus in on buying back-to-school items instead of purchasing that matching Burberry mittens and hat to go with those shoes.

So maybe that focus is causing a dip in sales of wristwatches in a sort of combined effect with the Apple Watch i.e. more noticeable due to the stronger pull of Apple’s latest shiny toy!

To date Apple has not published any official numbers on Apple Watch sales, even though they recently announced 11 million free trial subscribers to Apple Music as noted in my blog article entitled “Apple Music 11 Million Trial users – Why 100 million Apple Music Subscribers by 2016 versus @Spotify and @TIDALHiFi beckons”.

But this hasn't stopped Research Analyst Slice Intelligence from stating that some 3 million Apple Watches have been sold in the past two (2) months up until June 2015 as explained in my blog article entitled “3 million sold according to Slice Intelligence - How Third-party Wrist straps sell Apple Watch demonstrating How to Sell a Wearable”. 

More recent stats from Research Analyst Slice Intelligence suggest sales of the Apple Watch in terms of US online sales have surpassed 3 million since Friday July 10^th 2015 as pointed out in the article “3 Million: Estimated Sales Of Apple Watch Through July 10”, published July 13, 2015 By Sumit Passary, Tech Times.

That means if you add in international sales, the Apple Watch would have long surpassed 3 million abroad.

It would have already beaten Google Android Wear smartwatches and all other Wearables combined as predicted in my blog article entitled “Apple Watch is Apple Most Successful Product – How to sell a Wearable and beat fitness Trackers and Android Wear Smartwatches”.  

Worse, with the decline in exports to Switzerland, it might already be beating the Swiss in their own home turf, at least in the sub-US$1000 category. The US$10,000 and higher category remains tantalizingly out of reach for Apple, as they’re new to the Luxury game and at US$10,000, the Apple Watch Edition seems tame.

Apple Watch Armageddon – Swiss watchmakers Legacy undone in 1 year

So are we looking at a Smartwatch Armageddon for U.S. wristwatches?

Is Apple Watch's mojo THAT powerful an explosive force, like the Russian Tsar Bomba that it might kill off domestic wristwatch sales?

And is the Swiss Watchmakers four hundred (400) years dominance over these custom crafted mechanical timepieces coming to an end as the Age of the Smartwatch beckons?

We'll only know when Apple reveals sales numbers, hopefully by Wednesday September 9^th 2015, then they allegedly will launch both the Apple iPad and the Apple iPhone as reported in “Apple said to host iPhone, iPad, Apple TV event Sept. 9”, published August 7, 2015 by Shara Tibken, CNET News, and plot a course for Apple Watch domination in 2016.

@symantec's June 2015 Intelligence Report says Spam down 50 percent as Smartphones Hacking Rises

“We are in a constant arms race. With spammers continually coming up with new techniques that we have to deal with, and it would be hubris to declare victory”

Research Analyst at security company Cloudmark, Andrew Conway, commenting on Symantec's June 2015 Intelligence Report 

As I've long suspected, Mobile Social Networks are more engaging than email, as they do messaging in real time. This spells bad news for spammers and email marketing peeps, who must now find new ways to reach their potential client base.

At least, that’s the conclusion I've come to based on Security firm Symantec's declaration that we've entered a period of low spam email levels not seen in the past twelve (12) years since September 2003, as reported in the article “Spam email levels at 12-year low”, published 17 July 2015, BBC News. 

To be precise, accord to Symantec's Data, less than 50% of email in July 2015 are spam or even junk mail from email marketing peeps as can be done using Gmail as explained in my blog article entitled “How to use @Gmail to do Email Marketing - How to do Mail Merge using @GoogleDocs SpreadSheets and Gmail”.

So says Symantec's June 2015 Intelligence Report, which points out that the level of spam has been falling since 2010 as explained in the article “Spam email rate falls below 50 percent for first time in a decade”, published July 17, 2015 by Jeremy Kirk, PC World. 

So if the email marketing peeps, spammers and hackers who do phishing as described in my blog article entitled “Professor Marco Gercke warns of Scammers using Keyloggers for Spear Phishing - How to use Keyloggers and how to Protect yourself from Scammer's American Hustle for Fast Cash” are no longer using email, what's the replacement?

Symantec's June 2015 Intelligence Report - How the rise of the smartphone saw the Titan Fall of Email and Spam

Symantec's June 2015 Intelligence Report stats can be best explained with a simple graphic as used in the article “Symantec: Spam falls below 50% of all email for the first time since 2003”, published JULY 17, 2015 by Emil Protalinski, Venturebeat.

At the height of the spam epidemic in June 2009, the figures were staggering:

1.      6.3 trillion email messages were sent 

2.      5.7 of those email messages were spam

3.      90.48% of email sent was spam

The last time such low figures have been seen was Twelve (12) years back in September 2003, before smartphones were invented. Then it peaked by 2010, which coincidentally was the same year that the Apple iPad was launched and Google Android smartphones became a popular alternative to the Apple iPhone.

Now fast-forward to 2015. According to Symantec as of June 2015:

1.      704 billion email messages were sent 

2.      353 billion of those email messages were spam

3.      49.7% of email sent was spam

By July 2015, the spam figures were trending downwards:

1.      25 billion email messages were sent 

2.      11 billion of those email messages were spam

3.      46.4% of email sent was spam

Before that, the percentage of email that was spam has been on the decline:

1.      52.1% in April 2015

2.      51.5% in May 2015

3.      49.7% in June 2015

4.      46.4% in July 2015

But the stats get more interesting when you consider what these figures mean. It suggests that the spammers began targeting smartphones and Tablets in 2010 and are now intensifying their efforts as smartphones become more widespread in use, even in the UK based on stats from OfCom as reported in the article “Britons 'love smartphones and selfies'”, published 6 August 2015 by Zoe Kleinman, BBC News.

Engineering people the main targets of Hackers - Ransomware and crypto-ransomware on the Rise

The following table breaks it down even further into the various Sectors of Work in the US of A, with Mining receiving the Lion's share of spam emails as noted in the article “Spam Email Rate Falls Below 50% For First Time In 12 Years, Report Says”, published 7/20/2015 by Rex Santus, Forbes. 

Guess that comes with being an Engineer, as they do make a lot of money based on the statistics from NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Why Technology Companies are Seeking Engineers”.

Interestingly, while email spam was on the decline, other malicious attempts at hacking via phishing were on the rise:

1.      57.6 million new malware variants were created in June 2015

2.      44.5 million new malware variants were created in May 2015

3.      29.2 million new malware variants were created in April 2015

Ransomware and crypto-ransomware has been increasing since December 2014 as hackers are starting to switch their tactics to catch unsuspecting persons as noted by Symantech Analyst Ben Nahorney, quote: “This increase in activity lends more evidence to the idea that, with the continued drops in email-based malicious activity, attackers are simply moving to other areas of the threat landscape".

Meanwhile email usage overall has been falling as more people go the Social Media and IM (Instant Messaging) route to communicate as the stats from Socialbakers suggests in my blog article entitled “@socialbakers trend of @Facebook Video – @YouTube ditched for Facebook’s Social Media Garden and Twitteratti Twitter”.

Hackers turned it up a Notch - Hacking Smartphones and Tablets for their Personal Information Goldmine

In other words, the recent StageFright vulnerability would have been a god send to hackers, as it would mean they could switch to hacking smartphones remotely as explained in my blog article entitled “Security Firm Zimperium reveals StageFright Bug - Why Automated Video Playback in @Google @Android is a Hacker's Thermonuclear War”.

Ditto too the Mozilla Firefox's PDF Viewer vulnerability that would have made almost every computer running a Firefox browser hackable as reported in my blog article entitled “Mozilla Firefox's PDF Viewer vulnerability - How to hack Mozilla @Firefox Browser and How to prevent the Firefox PDF Viewer Vulnerability”.  

More reasons for me to dislike smartphones, especially as I already dislike their ability to track you as pointed out in my blog article entitled “The Reason why I don't like Smartphones - Location Privacy and How to disable Location Services on Android and iOS”.

Hackers are definitely switching their tactics; they're targeting more smartphones and fewer computers as that's where the real information goldmine is waiting to be stolen.

Mozilla Firefox's PDF Viewer vulnerability - How to hack Mozilla @Firefox Browser and How to prevent the Firefox PDF Viewer Vulnerability

There is no end to what's been revealed while DefCon and Black Hat Hacking Conferences are going on in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I recently learned that almost 90% of all Google Android smartphone can be remotely controlled via the StageFright vulnerability. This was discovered by Security Firm Zimperium zLabs as reported in my blog article entitled “Security Firm Zimperium reveals StageFright Bug – Why Automated Video Playback in @Google @Android is a Hacker's Thermonuclear War”.

Mozilla has announced that their Firefox Browser has a vulnerability that allows anyone to remotely steal your files as reported in the article “Firefox users, here's a security flaw you'll need to fix”, published August 7, 2015 by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

The hack was revealed to the Mozilla Foundation by a very faithful user, Security researcher Cody Crews, who they tipped their hat to in their Press Release on Thursday August 6th 2015 in the post “Same origin violation and local file stealing via PDF reader”.

So how does this hack work in a nutshell??

Mozilla Firefox's PDF Viewer vulnerability - How to remotely hack via Mozilla Firefox Browser

Apparently a News site in Russia was able to demonstrate the exploit, which exists in Firefox's PDF Viewer which is written with JavaScript as explained in the article “Update Firefox now: major vulnerability could steal your data”, published August 7 2015 by Owen Williams, The Next Web.

Theoretically, a hacker can gain access to your computer by creating a website that has a PDF (Portable Document File) file on it and then send you a link to their website.

You then click on the PDF document and the Firefox's PDF Viewer goes to work, opening the PDF document in your Firefox Browser for viewing. However, the vulnerability that exists in the JavaScript code for the Firefox's PDF Viewer allows the hacker's website to inject an executable script which the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) running on your computer.

In short, you merely need to only visit the infected website, download a PDF File from that hacker's website and you're infected, not much different from the StageFright vulnerability for Google Android smartphones as described in my blog article entitled “Security Firm Zimperium reveals StageFright Bug – Why Automated Video Playback in @Google @Android is a Hacker's Thermonuclear War”.

Thus the hacker via their website can remotely log into your computer and search and upload local files. But what's even more troubling is that it works on ANY computer that has JVM or can run it Windows, Linux or Mac OS, if the hacker is sufficiently skilled or motivated. 

Luckily, the exploit can only target System Files that would only be of concern to developers, such as FTP configuration files, subversion, .purple and Log files with personal information on Windows and Linux computers.

Defense Against the Dark Arts - How to prevent the Firefox PDF Viewer Vulnerability

We're lucky that Security researcher Cody Crews spotted it early and reported it to Mozilla Firefox. Albeit potentially as widespread and the StageFright vulnerability is on Google Android, it isn't as pervasive, as the Browsers isn’t baked into your Macbook Pro, Windows 8 or Ubuntu Linux computer.

A simple upgrade to Mozilla Firefox version 39.0.3 from 38.1.1 and the application of a patch by Enterprise users can defend you from this attack as pointed out in “Mozilla is patching a Firefox exploit that can hijack 'sensitive local files'”, published August 7, 2015 by Colin Lecher, The Verge.

Also educating you staff not to click on suspicious websites or email links as was the case in the JIS (Jamaica Information Service) hack as explained in my blog article entitled “Anatomy of ISIS hack of the JIS Website - How the @JISNews Website was hacked and Why Hactivists couldn't access sensitive GOJ Databases” can prevent this scenario from occurring.

@AppleMusic 11 Million Trial users means 100 million Subscribers by 2016 versus @Spotify and @TIDALHiFi

“For many people outside of the US (Apple Music launched in 100 countries), you still have to explain what it is and how it works. Beyond that, there's still the issue of winning over millennials, who never pay for music, by showing them you're offering something that will improve their lives. And finally, there are people out there who I think understand its value, but we still have to go out and get them”

Apple executive Jimmy Iovine in an interview with USA Today on Thursday August 6th 2015 on Apple’s 11 million Trial users.

It's only been a two months since the launch of Apple Music, the real highlight of Apple's WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) held earlier on Thursday June 2nd 2015 as reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “Apple WWDC 2015 debuts OS X 10.11, Watch OS 2.0 and Apple Music”.

Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, made this known in an interview with USA Today as reported in the article “Apple Music hooks 11 million trial members, App Store has record July”, published August 6, 2015 by Marco della Cava, USA Today. 

Apple Music – The Spotify alternative that looks a lot like Spotify

Apple Music was launched on Tuesday June 30th 2015, but not without a little bad blood from Taylor Swift as reported in my blog article entitled “@TaylorSwift13 and Vinyl – Why Female Hipsters diggin’ her New Groove as Vinyl Sales Rise”. 

Those 11 million trial subscription aren't paying customers; they're just trying out the service, as they're not sure if they want to pay or not.

Apple Music service charges aren't that different from Spotify, another Music Streaming service that Taylor Swift had a beef with back in November 2014 as reported in my blog article entitled “@TaylorSwift13 leaves Spotify – How Spotify’s continues to give 37.5 million users Globally Free Music who need to pay for Music Streaming”.

If you decide to jump onto the Apple bandwagon, the charges are as follows:

1.      US$9.99 per month for an Individual plan

2.      US$14.99 per month for a Shared Family Plan (6 people)

3.      24/7 radio station called Beats 1

4.      Connect Social Networking that allows musicians and their fans to meet

So with such a sweet deal, it explains the large number of trial users? But will they become dedicated users eventually?

Apple Music 11 Million Trial users – Spotify has Apple in their Rear View Mirror

Apple's Apple Music Manager Eddy Cue also was quick to point out it wasn't just freebies; some 2 million people have already subscribed to the US$14.99 Shared Family Plan.

Apple has some 800 million iTunes subscribers. With more iOS devices being sold and so many loyal iTunes subscribers, it's hoped they'll just upgrade to Apple Music instead of jumping on the Spotify Bandwagon. 

Additionally, by offering Apple Music streaming, they also hope to attract more persons to buy Apple Products. This might not work out as planned, as Apple's Apple Music Manager Eddy Cue wasn't too clear on demographics i.e. Age, gender, location and whether they were mainly New Apple customer or iTunes converts. 

Still, these are impressive stats, when compared to Spotify, their closest rival who have been Growing Strong as reported in “Spotify gathers users, cash as battle with Apple Music looms”, published June 10, 2015 by Don Reisinger and Joan E. Solsman, CNET News.

According to the article, in May 2014 Spotify had:

1.      10 million paid subscribers

2.      40 million active users

By December 2014, Spotify had:

1.      15 million paid subscribers

2.      60 million active users

Currently Spotify now looms large as they have:

1.      20 million paid subscribers

2.      75 million active users

To put that in perspective, if Apple could convert their 11 million trial users into paid membership, they’d be 50% of the way to beating Spotify. Apple clearly has Spotify in their sights, and they’ve got come serious Ad campaigning ahead, with billboards, TV spots and Radio Ads.

Apple Music coming to Google Android – 100 million Subscribers by 2016

Their Apple Music for Google Android which they promised at Apple WWDC will be launched very soon, expanding their reach. 

I’m a bit skeptical, though, that they can beat Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service which is basically an army of Music Celebrities pushing HD Audio Streaming as explained in my blog article entitled “Jay Z's US$19.99 Tidal HiFi launched with Artiste Backing - How HD Audio Quality Music selected by Artiste will turn the Tide”.

 

With that kind of marketing muscle, 100 million subscribers will be a tall order for the Cupertino Kids who like to Think Different. Most likely, that growth spurt will occur when Apple Music spreads to Google Android Land!!!